Homemade Croutons

I love finding little recipes that use things (like bread) that I might end up throwing away. I also love when those little recipes taste amazing! I don't know if you all know this but croutons are far from healthy (this recipe included). Yes there might be little things you could do to make it more healthy like use olive oil istead of butter, but if you want really yummy croutons butter is the way to go!

Homemade Croutons
1 loaf french bread cubed (about 8 cups cubed bread chunks
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced*

In a microwave safe bowl combine butter, italian seasoning, salt, and garlic. Heat in microwave for 30-60 seconds until butter is melted and bubbling slightly. Set aside. In a large bowl place cubed bread chunks. French bread works great, but really any type of bread will work just fine. Slowly drizzle butter mixture over bread stirring while you pour. Try and evenly coat each piece of bread with the butter mixture. Pour bread onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake at 300 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy. Croutons can be eaten immediately or stored in an air tight container or zip lock bag for a few weeks.

*You can use 1 tsp garlic powder instead of the cloves of garlic if you prefer.

Deliciousness Salad

I love salads that combine fruit and vegetables! I love the sweet taste combined with a good vinaigrette dressing. I have my favorite strawberry salad already posted on this blog (which is to die for) but really has a lot of sugar. This salad is a delicious combination of a traditional salad with a slight hint of sweetness obtained from the fruit.  The first time we had this salad my husband was the instigator on getting the recipe. He loved it! I have been making this salad ever since.

Deliciousness Salad

1 head romaine lettuce
1 bag spinach
10 sliced up strawberries
2 cans mandarin oranges
Croutons
Sunflower seeds
Shredded cheddar cheese
Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing
  - any vinaigrette would work. That's just the one we really like.

Directions
Cut or tear romaine lettuce into desired size. Rinse both your romaine lettuce and spinach. Combine romaine lettuce and spinach in a large salad bowl. Top with sliced strawberries, mandarin oranges, croutons, sunflower seeds, and shredded cheese. Right before serving add dressing and toss to combine.

Thanks Sarah for the great Recipe!

Strawberry Salad

I always love a good salad. I will be honest though, this salad with the dressing is more like a dessert. The combination of strawberries, Craisins, and the fabulousness of the dressing is just heavenly.  Its probably not the most healthy salad, but is absolutely to die for! If you are looking for a crowd pleaser of a salad this is it! This is another delicious recipe courtesy of my wonderful mother.

Strawberry Salad

 

1 head of romaine lettuce

10 Strawberries sliced

1/2 cup Craisins

8 oz Feta Cheese

Candied Almonds or plain pine nuts

 

Wash and cut lettuce. Place in a large salad bowl. Top with remaining ingredients and toss lightly to combine.

*To candy the almonds, place almonds in frying pan.  Pour a lot of sugar to cover over the top.  Stir over medium heat until the sugar melts and coat the almonds.  It seems like it takes forever for the sugar to melt but it does!

 

Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing

 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup rice vinegar (I have also used apple cider vinegar with good results)

4 tbl. red onion

4 fresh strawberries

1 tbl. water

1 1/2 cups canola oil

4 tsp. poppy seed

  

Throw all ingredients in the blender and puree.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

I want you all to know that I don't eat horribly all the time (unless I'm on a cruise). I actually really enjoy eating healthy. My one requirement for eating healthy is that it still has to taste good. I love adding whole grains to things to make them healthier. The greatest thing about this salad that it's not only healthy but it tastes great too! Even if you have never had quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah in case you were wondering) this recipe is quick, easy, and bound to be a crowd pleaser.

Quinoa and Black Been Salad

Ingredients
2 tsp onion powder
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 can corn kernels
1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional - I personally hate cilantro so I left it out)

Directions
Place quinoa in a bowl of water and let soak for about 10 minutes. In a rice cooker combine the rest of the ingredients add in the quinoa and let cook in rice cooker until done (approx 20-30 minutes). Serve warm or cold. Serve as a side dish or a main course.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

Oriental Chicken Salad

I know many of you have probably had this salad before. It is a great easy salad to through together and is always a crowd pleaser. This was one of the only things I requested to be served at one of my bridal showers. I absolutely love it. The thing about this salad is that I forget about it for a while but when I remember it again I am so excited and love every second of eating it!

I must be honest I have one other reason why I was really excited to make this salad. Do you see the bowl that the salad is in? I don't think the picture does it justice but it is the coolest bowl. My sister in law gave it to us last year and I enjoy any excuse to use it. Really I should have just taken a picture bowl so you all could enjoy the beauty and color of it! I guess you will just have to use your imagination, but just know that it is awesome.

Oriental Chicken Salad

1 lb shredded cooked chicken
4 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 head raw cabbage, chopped
2 pkgs chicken flavored Top Ramen (broken and uncooked)
4 stalks green onion, chopped (optional)
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup oil (I used mostly olive oil with a few tbs sesame oil)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons vinegar

In large bowl mix together the chicken, almonds, sesame seeds, cabbage, broken Ramen noodles and onion. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, and seasoning packets from the ramen noodles. Pour mixture over salad. If you like the noodles crunchy then serve immediately. If you prefer soft noodles then store in an airtight container overnight stirring occasionally.

Recipe Source: Adapted from CD Kitchen

Cookie Salad

A friend of mine from a few years back was so excited when she found out I had a blog. She told me that I had to post the recipe for the zebra cookies. I honestly had no idea what recipe she was talking about. I even googled zebra cookies to see if it would trigger a memory of some recipe I had made for her a few years ago, but it didn't work. I thought of all my cookie recipes and couldn't think of any that would even remotely resemble zebra cookies. I gave up the search and quickly forgot about her request. I'm sure she was frustrated that I never posted the recipe. She recently sent me another message asking me again to post the zebra cookie fruit salad thingy. This time the light went on! I knew exactly what recipe she was talking about and I am so excited to share it with all of you. Many of you might know this recipe. I personally like any way to get more fruits and veggies in, but in some sort of delicious unhealthy way. The fruit in this salad makes me feel a little bit better about eating all the cookies that are in it too! This is definitely a crowd pleaser for any age group!






Cookie Salad


Ingredients:

2 cups cold buttermilk

1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping and thawed, or 12 oz heavy whipping cream whipped and lightly sweetened.

2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained

1 can pineapple

1 (11.5 ounce) package fudge striped shortbread cookies, coarsely crushed

In a bowl, whisk the buttermilk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping and oranges and pineapple. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Fold in crushed cookies.

Pretzel Jello Salad

For those of you that have never heard of this salad you might be thinking that pretzels and jello are a very weird combination. For those of you that have had this delicious "salad" before know that it is a fantastic combination of sweet and salty. This has been a favorite of my family for as long as I can remember. If I ever need to bring something to a friend or family get together and ask my husband what to bring 9 times out of 10 he will suggest this. Now you need to know there are other variations of this recipe out there. We do ours slightly different and I LOVE the way it turns out. I love each layer individually as well as all of them together. I hope you will try it this way and let me know what you think.

Pretzel Jello Salad

2 2/3 cups broken pretzels
1 1/2 cubes margarine or butter
2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 6 oz package strawberry jello
2 cups water
1 large package strawberries
1 8 oz package cool whip (or enough whipping cream to cover top approximately 1-2 cups)

Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put margarine in a 9X13 pan and place in oven while preheating to melt. Break up pretzels. I have found that the easiest way is to put them in a strong zip lock back and roll a rolling pin over until you get the size of pieces you want. I like a combination of small and medium sized pieces. Pour pretzels over melted margarine or butter and mix. Spread pretzels out to cover the bottom of the pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set in fridge to cool. Once cool spread cream cheese mixture over pretzels. The cream cheese mixture is thick so this can be a challenge, but don't worry it doesn't have to look perfect. Boil water. Mix boiling water and jello in a heat prof bowl. Set jello in fridge for 30 minutes. Add chopped strawberries to jello. Spread jello over cream cheese. Set in fridge until jello is set. Top with cool whip or whipping cream.

Here are some step by step photos